The UK’s chemicals industry was being left to “suffer in silence” while the Government concentrated on other sectors such as car companies, an analyst has said.

Chris Stirling, of KPMG, claimed a spate of recent closure announcements put as many as 10,000 jobs at risk across the UK, either directly or in supply firms.

“These announcements have largely gone unnoticed compared with the current noise surrounding the future of other industries... The chemicals industry simply cannot be left to suffer in silence,” he said.